Coin collecting apparatus



y 1940. c. M. HANCOCK 2,201,089

COIN COLLECTING APPARATUS Filed April 1, 1938 Patented May 14, 1940 artsts COIN COLLECTING APPARATUS Charles Marion Hancock, Wollaston, Mass,as-

signo-r to American Telephone and Telegraph Company, a corporation ofNew York Application April 1, 1938; Serial No. 199,518

4 Claims.

This invention relates to shielding means for coin collector relays.

An object of the invention is to provide in a telephone coin collector ashield to protect from fraudulent operation the relay and the movingparts associated therewith in the collection or refunding of depositedcoins.

As disclosed in the O. F. Forsberg, United States Patent 1,043,219, oneform of telephone coin collector comprises an upper housing enclosing apolarized relay above which is supported a spring pressed lever releasedby a coin operated trigger to close electrical spring contacts wherebythe relay may be energized. The armature of the relay has an extensionwhich operates to move a vane in the associated coin hopper to col lector refund the coins depending upon the direction the vane is actuated.

Occasionally attempts are made to obtain'the fraudulent operation of thespring contacts or the coin vane by the insertion of wires, metallic orother strips into the upper housing. It is the primary object of thisinvention to protect the relay and associated parts from such fraudulentpractices.

In accordance with this invention it is proposed to surround the relayand its moving parts with a shield of insulating and resilient materialwhich may be readily slipped about the relay assembly and held in placeupon the collector tray and also by having its ends held under tensionagainst certain collector parts adjacent the relay. This protectingshield preferably comprises three side walls with the top and bottomwall and one side wall omitted, the three side walls of the shieldprotecting the front and the two sides of the relay assembly.

Referring to the drawing, Figure l is a perspective view which shows onetype of telephone coin collector to which the present invention may beapplied. i

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a detached shield by which the coinrelay assembly of the coin collector is protected;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a coin collector having its housingbroken away to show the application of the shield to the relay assembly;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the relay assembly about which thepresent invention is adapted to be applied as a shield; and

Fig. 5 is a perspective view showing the interior of the coin collectorand its broken away armature extension, as viewed from the left of Fig.1.

Fig. 1 is a conventional showing of the type of telephone coin collectordisclosed in the above In Figs. 1 and 3 the upper housing has been 5'removed to disclose the coin hopper i ll which has a pivoted cointrigger l l for operation by deposited coins before the coins reach acoin trap of well known construction. As disclosed in the Forsbergpatent the operation of coin trigger H 10.:

serves to close electrical contacts it to establish a circuit throughthe coin relay M and place the collector in condition for service. Thepivoted relay armature l5 has an extension iii which when the relay isenergized serves to drop the P51 coin trap and direct the coins into arefund chute leading; to opening 9 or into a collect chute leading tocash compartment ll. There is also provided an insulating roller I whichlies between the contacts l3 and is connected to the armature 20 l5, asshown in Fig. 4. i i

In order to protect the relay assembly just outlined and to prevent thefraudulent operation of the spring contacts or other moving partsassociated with the relay, it is proposed to provide 25 for the relayassembly a shield l8 preferably made of resilient insulating material.This shield as more clearly shown in Fig. 2 has no top or bottom and hasonly three side walls, so that when in place the shield protects thefront and 30 the two sides of the relay assembly. Side wall 19 extendsrearwardly to the front face of base 5, projecting between the hopper iii and the transfer spring pile-up 20. The lower edge of wall 19 isslotted as shown at 2! to fit over the relay mounting plate and hasextensions 22 resting on the bottom of relay tray 23.

As shown particularly in Figs. 2 and 3, the righthand portion 24 of theshield is offset from the remainder of the front face to clear the relayspring guard bracket 25 and the spring pile up 20, the portion 24extending downwardly between the relay and the front wall of the relaytray 23 with its lower end resting on the tray bottom. At the top of thefront wall 24 of the shield I8 is a lug 2B which is bent inwardly andfits loosely in an aperture of bracket 25. The lower part of the frontface of the shield has a slot 2'! to bridge over certain parts of therelay mounting. The shield l8 also has a slot 28 to enable the springcontacts to be examined without removing the cover.

In order to conserve space within the upper housing the vertical wall ofthe shield 18 is formed to fit snugly around the left-hand coil of relayl4 as viewed in Figs. 1, 3 and 5. This curved wall terminates in anangular tab 29. The purpose of tab 29 will be explained with referenceto Figs. 3 and 5. As seen in Figs. 3 and 5 there is a small gap betweenthe upper front projecting wall 30 of the refund chute and the frontwall 3! of the coinhopper. When shield I8 is in position the side of thetab or arm 29 will abut the edge of the projecting wall 30 and the endof the tab will be positioned in the gap and against the face of thewall 3|. The tab will be held under tension in this position due to theresilience ofits material and since, as previously stated, its other endor the edge of wall I9 normally lies against the transfer spring pile-up20.

From the above description it will be apparent that shield I8 may bereadily slipped around the relay assembly while guiding wall Hi to theleft of the transfer spring pile-up 2U, pressing inwardly the oppositewall portion adjacent tabarm 29 to enable it to be positioned as shownin Figs. 3 and 5. When the shield is so positioned it will be held inplace mainly by the tension of tab-arm 29 against the walls 30 and 3!While the opposite wall l9 of the shield is held by tension against thesprings 20. It is, of course, obvious that whenever desired, the shieldl8 may be readily removed by pressing the end walls inwardly and tiltingthe shield forwardly.

The shield I8 is preferably made of insulating material which is highlyresilient, that is a material which after being formed to the desiredshape, resists deformation. Certain forms of vulcanized fibre have beenfound satisfactory for this purpose.

What is claimed is:

1. A telephone coin collector including an outer housing, a relayassembly within said housing for disposing of coins deposited therein,and an inner housing including a shield of insulating material havingthree side walls extending about the front and two sides of the relayassembly and being held in resilient engagement within the outer housingand about the relay assembly to prevent the unauthorized operationthereof by instrumentalities inserted through said outer housing.

2. A telephone coin collector including an outer housing, a relayassembly within said housing for disposing of coins deposited therein,projections from said housing adjacent each side of the relay assembly,and an inner housing in resilient engagement within the outer housingand positioned about the front and two sides of said relay assembly,said inner housing including a shield of insulating material engagingsaid projections to prevent the unauthorized operation of the relayassembly by instrumentalities inserted through the outer housing.

3. A telephone coin collector having a relay as sembly for disposing ofcoins deposited therein, an outer housing forming an enclosure for theentire collector organization to prevent tampering with the variouscomponents thereof, and an inner housing of insulating material inresilient engagement within the outer housing as to form a shield aboutthe front and a plurality of sides of the relay assembly to preventunauthorized operation of its control elements by instrumentalitieswhich may penetrate the outer housing.

4. In a telephone coin collector assembly, a relay to control thedisposition of coins deposited therein, an external housing about therelay to prevent tampering therewith, the relay being operable byunauthorized instrumentalities penetrated through said external housing,and an internal housing of insulating material in resilient engagementwithin said external housing and about the front and a plurality ofsides of said relay to positively prevent the operation of said relay bythe penetration through said external housing of said unauthorizedinstrumentalities.

CHARLES MARION HANCOCK.

